Roger Williams was buried at (I think) Providence Rhode Island, and when his body had to be relocated it was found that an apple-tree’s roots were entwined in his bones. Many people ate those apples.

Question: whose molecules will be whose at the resurrection :-)?

Facebook responses:

Well Jesus had a gaping hole in his hands and side and was able to eat ok…and we seem to eat his body and drink his blood each week (or month) without too much loss. 🙂

Surely we should resolve how many angels can stand on the end of a pin first?!

To the degree that that sounds very much like the “which husband will be the husband in the resurrection” question, I reserve the right to suggest that the answer is perhaps a moot point.

East one. His. (And you know of whom I’m talking.)

Carl Sagan spoke of us all being made of star stuff. The molecules or atoms or stuff that atoms are made of all came once from a star and one day perhaps a few billion years from now they will once again become part of a star (probably our Sun) and will eventually re-birth as some other part of God’s (Carl would say ‘whatever you perceive God to be’) magnificent universe.

I like that. Physically the essence of our being will exist forever. So the question of whose molecules are whose is irrelevant and in fact has already been taken care of within the bounds of God’s creation. The real question is what happens to the spiritual essence of our being after the physical essence is metamorphosed into something else. Does it/can it exist apart from the physical essence?

Having the physical essence of a deceased loved one around is a comforting thing for many people. Believing that the spiritual essence is experiencing some higher plane of existence can also be a great comfort and blessing in difficult times.

Now you’re just being (very helpfully) provocative Rowland. 😀

What resurrection?

The one I’m going to!

Why would we need our denser bodies in heaven? not sure I understand this. It’s a different dimension and we are perfect physically there (in my experience).

This reminds me of a scene in ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ when an unimaginative priest is arguing that his dead soldiers should not be burned, lest their ashes mix and their bodies be prevented from re-constituting on the Resurrection Day. Our hero responds: “If we do not burn these bodies, we will all be dead of disease in three days. God will understand, my lord. And if he doesn’t, then he is not God and we need not worry.”